Dhamma Principles › Paṭṭhāna: What Is Fixed and What Is Not Yet Fixed
Paṭṭhāna: What Is Fixed and What Is Not Yet Fixed
Going deeper

Paṭṭhāna: What Is Fixed and What Is Not Yet Fixed

Micchattattikaṃ

The wrongness triplet divides states into three: wrong and fixed, right and fixed, and not fixed. The Investigation Chapter shows that ordinary lust and hatred can be decisive support for the gravest deeds, and ordinary wrong view passes into fixed wrong view; while the fixed right side is the path, which begins from preparation that is not yet fixed.

6 points

In the Paṭṭhāna of the Abhidhamma Piṭaka, volume 41, the wrongness triplet (micchatta-tika) sorts states into three groups: states that are wrong and fixed in their outcome (micchatta-niyata), states that are right and fixed (sammatta-niyata), and states that are not fixed (aniyata). The examples in the Investigation Chapter show that the first group is the five gravest deeds — killing one's mother, killing one's father, killing an arahant, wounding the Tathāgata so that his blood is drawn, and splitting the Saṅgha — together with fixed wrong view. The second group is the path. Almost all thoughts and actions in everyday life are not fixed.

According to the commentary, fixed means fixed in its result: those grave deeds give their result for certain in the next existence, and the path gives its result, the fruition mind, immediately with nothing in between. The commentary also explains fixed wrong view as the kind of wrong view that denies cause and effect in action. These details come from the commentary, not from the Paṭṭhāna itself.

This page mentions the grave deeds only as far as the text names them, without describing the acts. What is interesting is that the text shows how ordinary things in the mind can support reaching a fixed point, on both the wrong and the right side. The modern examples are illustrations only.

  1. 1

    Three groups: fixed wrong, fixed right, and not fixed Micchattaniyato dhammo

    The text runs these three groups through the conditions one by one. Its examples show that the fixed-wrong group is the five gravest deeds and fixed wrong view, the fixed-right group is the path, and everything else — including giving, virtue, jhāna, fruition, Nibbāna and matter — belongs to the not-fixed group. This point is for overall understanding.

    Applying it in daily life

    When you think that you or someone else is that kind of person forever, remember that in the text very little is fixed. Almost everything in life is still in the group that can change.

  2. 2

    Ordinary lust and hatred can support the gravest deeds Aniyataṃ rāgaṃ upanissāya

    Under the decisive-support condition the text says a person, relying on lust that is not fixed, relying on hatred, longing, bodily pleasure, even lodging, commits those grave deeds. Every support belongs to the not-fixed group, but what follows belongs to the fixed group.

    Applying it in daily life

    Anger that has not yet been acted on can always be dealt with. When you notice strong anger, step away from the situation before saying or doing anything.

  3. 3

    Ordinary wrong view passes into fixed view Aniyatā micchādiṭṭhi niyatamicchādiṭṭhiyā

    The text says that wrong view that is not fixed is a condition for fixed wrong view, by way of proximity and by way of repetition; grief that is not fixed is likewise a condition for fixed grief. Wrong view does not become rigid all at once; it hardens from earlier moments of the same kind.

    Applying it in daily life

    Firmly held beliefs usually start as thoughts that could still change. Ask yourself now and then: if I am wrong, what evidence would change my mind? If you cannot answer at all, you have begun to hold on too tightly.

  4. 4

    Doing good to counter what has been done Tassa paṭighātatthāya dānaṃ deti

    The text says that someone who has committed a grave deed gives, undertakes precepts and keeps the Uposatha in order to counter that deed. In this sense a grave deed can be a support for good actions. But the text only states how they condition each other; it does not say that later goodness cancels the earlier deed.

    Applying it in daily life

    Guilt can genuinely push us to do good, but good done afterwards is something new, not an eraser. What should go with it is admitting the wrong and making amends with those affected as far as possible.

  5. 5

    The fixed right side: the path passes straight to fruition Maggo phalassa anantarapaccayena paccayo

    On the fixed-right side the text says the path is a condition for fruition by way of proximity, Nibbāna is a condition for the path by way of object, and the noble ones, emerging from the path, review the path. Fixedness on this side is the certainty of release from defilement, not of punishment.

    Applying it in daily life

    When talking about action and result, don't let the picture be only the dark side. The text always sets the good kind of fixedness alongside it.

  6. 6

    Fixed rightness begins from preparation that is not yet fixed Paṭhamassa maggassa parikammaṃ

    Under not-fixed states as a condition for fixed-right states, the text says the preliminary work for the first path is a condition for the first path, up to the preliminary work for the fourth path as a condition for the fourth path. And within the not-fixed group itself, a person relying on faith, virtue, learning, generosity and wisdom does various good deeds. All this preparation is not yet fixed, yet it supports what is fixed.

    Applying it in daily life

    What you do every day — keeping the five precepts, listening to the Dhamma, sitting quietly for a short while — may seem to fix nothing, but it is the preparation the text itself names as support for the path.

Try it in daily life

The main lesson of this triplet is that what cannot be undone does not start as something that cannot be undone. Greed, anger and wrong view in their ordinary form can still change, but if they are allowed to recur and gain strength, they support actions that cannot be reversed.

The right side works the same way. The path, which is the good kind of fixedness, begins from preparation that is not yet fixed: faith, virtue, learning, generosity and wisdom in ordinary life. Every day of practice counts, even when no result is clear yet.

One more point to remember: the text shows that someone who has done a grave deed may give and keep precepts to counter it, but it does not say that later goodness erases the earlier deed. Responsibility for what has been done still remains.

Sign in to keep track of what you have read

Sources in the Tipiṭaka

Tap to read the actual passage on the page cited.

Other principles worth reading

Log in to earn 40 merit points for reading this page